Read Online What Would Steve Jobs Do? How the Steve Jobs Way Can Inspire Anyone to Think Differently and Win by Peter Sander - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Peter Sander
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public face, and part of its brand, that’s a compelling add-on to the aura of leadership and respect that’s already out there. We’ve seen it before with thelikes of Lee Iacocca and to a lesser extent with Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, Dave Thomas of Wendy’s, and others. They live, breathe, evangelize, and are totally connected to their product and its experience.
Leaders like Iacocca are probably involved in all phases of product development (as Iacocca was with the Chrysler K-Car platform) and follow by being the chief spokesman. These kinds of connections and efforts go above and beyond the normal call of duty. They show connections to the product, not personal grandeur, which go a long way toward building respect from the troops, not to mention the customer.
T HE R IGHT H AND FOR THE L EFT H AND
Steve Jobs was left-handed. That may not surprise most of you who typically associate left-handed people with alternative or contrarian thinking. But that’s not the point here.
The point is that even Steve Jobs recognized his limitations. While Steve had a mind for detail to the extreme when it came to customers and products, he didn’t align well with the administrative details of running a big company. Although evidence suggests that he often knew the financials better than the financial people, and that he demanded financial perfection just as he demanded product perfection, the financials weren’t really his bag.
So throughout Steve’s career, he always had a strong “right-hand” person taking care of the details of running a large, publicly held company and doing all that “other stuff” beyond product development and marketing. Mike Markkula, Mike Scott, and John Sculley were all brought on board as CEOs in the early days (remember, Steve was only 28 when Sculley was recruited). Jay Elliot served as a senior vice president and right-hand man well into the second phase of Apple’s success after Jobs’s return.
A good leader hires a good sidekick and places a lot of trust in that sidekick. They become “joined at the hip”—although they must be strategically aligned, something that obviously changed or was overlooked during the John Sculley years. A good visionary hires or partners with a strategically aligned nuts-and-bolts person to help him execute (Abraham Lincoln/Edwin Stanton, Bush/Cheney, and many others of far lower profile). This seems pretty simple, but it’s amazing how many leaders (HP’s Carly Fiorina comes to mind) think they can do everything, and fail when they try.
T HE S TEVE J OBS L EADERSHIP M ODEL
It’s pretty hard to structure a visionary. Visionaries, Steve Jobs included, defy structure. They act on instinct and experience, and what they do is hard to fit into a definitive model.
But we all need to learn from Steve; that’s why this book came to be. So I will try to put a structure around what he did to help you grasp the essence of what made him great. Now, mind you, this isn’t a “scouting manual” step-by-step leadership approach; rather, it is more of a thought process, a Zenlike state of being that you leaders out there can emulate, whether you are running a small work group or a Fortune 500 company.
S IX S TEPS
Although Steve Jobs’s leadership style defied conventional wisdom, I do see six critical elements, which can be loosely organized into steps that made him different, and that I believe he followed instinctively.
At the core of Steve’s style and success was an unwavering focus on the customer and on the product. That in itself set Steve apart from many corporate leaders, who are more focused on organization and numbers stuff. Steve’s focus on product is worth a book in and of itself, and indeed, several have been written on the history and style of Apple’s innovation.
I do think Steve’s customer and product focus are both unique and extraordinary. But what is equally extraordinary is the “connective tissue” he added in
Leaders like Iacocca are probably involved in all phases of product development (as Iacocca was with the Chrysler K-Car platform) and follow by being the chief spokesman. These kinds of connections and efforts go above and beyond the normal call of duty. They show connections to the product, not personal grandeur, which go a long way toward building respect from the troops, not to mention the customer.
T HE R IGHT H AND FOR THE L EFT H AND
Steve Jobs was left-handed. That may not surprise most of you who typically associate left-handed people with alternative or contrarian thinking. But that’s not the point here.
The point is that even Steve Jobs recognized his limitations. While Steve had a mind for detail to the extreme when it came to customers and products, he didn’t align well with the administrative details of running a big company. Although evidence suggests that he often knew the financials better than the financial people, and that he demanded financial perfection just as he demanded product perfection, the financials weren’t really his bag.
So throughout Steve’s career, he always had a strong “right-hand” person taking care of the details of running a large, publicly held company and doing all that “other stuff” beyond product development and marketing. Mike Markkula, Mike Scott, and John Sculley were all brought on board as CEOs in the early days (remember, Steve was only 28 when Sculley was recruited). Jay Elliot served as a senior vice president and right-hand man well into the second phase of Apple’s success after Jobs’s return.
A good leader hires a good sidekick and places a lot of trust in that sidekick. They become “joined at the hip”—although they must be strategically aligned, something that obviously changed or was overlooked during the John Sculley years. A good visionary hires or partners with a strategically aligned nuts-and-bolts person to help him execute (Abraham Lincoln/Edwin Stanton, Bush/Cheney, and many others of far lower profile). This seems pretty simple, but it’s amazing how many leaders (HP’s Carly Fiorina comes to mind) think they can do everything, and fail when they try.
T HE S TEVE J OBS L EADERSHIP M ODEL
It’s pretty hard to structure a visionary. Visionaries, Steve Jobs included, defy structure. They act on instinct and experience, and what they do is hard to fit into a definitive model.
But we all need to learn from Steve; that’s why this book came to be. So I will try to put a structure around what he did to help you grasp the essence of what made him great. Now, mind you, this isn’t a “scouting manual” step-by-step leadership approach; rather, it is more of a thought process, a Zenlike state of being that you leaders out there can emulate, whether you are running a small work group or a Fortune 500 company.
S IX S TEPS
Although Steve Jobs’s leadership style defied conventional wisdom, I do see six critical elements, which can be loosely organized into steps that made him different, and that I believe he followed instinctively.
At the core of Steve’s style and success was an unwavering focus on the customer and on the product. That in itself set Steve apart from many corporate leaders, who are more focused on organization and numbers stuff. Steve’s focus on product is worth a book in and of itself, and indeed, several have been written on the history and style of Apple’s innovation.
I do think Steve’s customer and product focus are both unique and extraordinary. But what is equally extraordinary is the “connective tissue” he added in
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